Artists Corner – Jalan Ember

Written by Evan Schlesinger

Jalan Ember is a founding member and current lead layout editor of Art Ducko. He is a senior digital arts major with a passion for the surreal and computer technology. A local to Bend, Oregon, Jalan was raised in an artistically-talented family. He spends his time working in the digital arts department and designing the layout for Art Ducko. When he’s not drawing while jamming to some Flying Lotus, you can find him playing Undertale, Katamari, and Kentucky Route Zero.

Finding inspiration for his own works in everything from the profane French new wave movement of the 1950s to Kurosawa’s samurai films to the colorful surrealist worlds of Jesse Moynihan, Jalan creates new worlds by combining the ancient with the new: a world of ancient sentient computers, and magic swords.

As lead layout editor, Jalan spends a minimum of three to four hours a week working with his team at weekly Art Ducko Staff meetings. At peak times, Jalan’s workload for the magazine increases to roughly four hours a day. Previously he had been one of two people in charge of layout design, but he has recently acquired a small design team to assist with the process. Being in a leadership position has changed some of Jalan’s duties. He now focuses on creating a general style guide for the magazine. This will be primarily for future layout designers of Art Ducko to utilize after Jalan graduates from the university.

Jalan’s advice for new artists: “Don’t be afraid of copying! Everything is just a remix of something else.”